Gene Hackman

Note: I’m not sure I’ve ever posted twice in a single day, but the news of Gene Hackman’s passing hit hard. The circumstances of his death remain mysterious at this point, but there’s no ambiguity about one thing: he truly was one of the best, and certainly my favorite actor of modern times. It didn’t feel right to tack this at the end of the usual first-Sunday post, so here is…

I can't overstate the impact Gene Hackman had on me as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. Having committed to study film after a few years of going through the motions in school, I was enamored with the classics of old Hollywood: the films of Ford, Hawks, Anthony Mann, Budd Boettecher, and so many others, but other than "The Wild Bunch," hadn't seen much in the modern films that truly gripped me.

Then came The French Connection, which absolutely blew my young mind -- and nothing was quite the same. That's when I knew I was headed for Hollywood come hell or high water.

There are good obits from several papers that tell his story better than I could -- like this and this -- and they're worth reading. As one put it: "Hackman’s career has so much gold in it that it is almost impossible to mine."

Indeed. Thanks for the memories, Gene.

RIP